On Friday November 11th, 2011, David Farnbauch will be attending Eric Oliver’s legal communication workshop “The Persuasion Edge for Legal Communication” in Washington D.C.
Eric G Oliver is one of the premier Trial/Jury consultants in the United States. Eric has concentrated in nonverbal, verbal, and implicit communication skills for over 27 years—23 working with attorneys. Besides teaching effective communication skills to attorneys and their firms, he spends most of his time helping trial attorneys prepare and present more receiver-friendly cases in court and for settlement presentations and discussions. He helps lawyers build a presentation plan for each case—adaptable to any venue—integrating the verbal, visual, and personal parts of the trial based on jurors needs and expectations uncovered in focus groups and voir dire.
Eric Oliver is coauthor of “Courtroom Power: Communication Strategies for Trial Lawyers”, and author of “Facts Can’t Speak for Themselves: Reveal the Stories that Give Facts their Meaning” and “Persuasive Communication”. Eric is also the founder of the consulting firm, MetaSystems, Ltd., located in Canton, Michigan.
Topics the legal communication workshop will concentrate on:
Rapport and Mirroring
Attendees will discover how to take their natural talent for making strong, sometimes immediate connections from personal settings to the professional arena. They will learn how to take a listener from a position of suspicion or disinterest to at least attentive, if not fully engaged, without changing anything you would have said—or not said.
Case Story Sequence
If every story has three main steps, and every story is different, and “duty-breach-harm-damage” or “and then-and then-and then chronology” are not the most persuasive order in which to deliver proofs, then what is the best sequence to present the case story? Attendees will learn how much has to happen before the “bad acts” drop in.
Sense Systems and Case Stories
What is the most basic bias affecting every decision maker as they construct their own personal version of the case story? Use the Sensory System preferences to increase influence in the case story delivery. Attendees will learn the bias towards a visual, oral, or feeling preference for the building blocks of perception to make meaning of any case story. Attendees will discover how to confirm their own sensory preference—visual, auditory, or kinesthetic, and how to detect anyone else’s in short order. Finally, attendees will learn the mechanics of a purely visual delivery of any case story point.
Anchors, Frames, and Themes
Attendees will learn to frame the delivery of key parts of client’s case stories to not only present them well or even to overcome a weakness, but also turn certain weaknesses into strengths, using key phrases and images (anchors) already available.